The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is putting a multi-billion dollar outsourcing contract, which is currently held by EDS, out to tender.
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been brought in to assist the ATO as it develops its long-term outsourcing strategy. Its current eight-year contract with EDS is set to expire in December 2008.
EDS has been the incumbent supplier to the ATO for its IT infrastructure requirements since 1999. The current contract was for five years with two 2-year extensions available, both of which the ATO has excercised.
Second commissioner Greg Farr said that the ATO is conscious of how the tender will be perceived by the market given EDS' eight-year incumbency.
"What we don't want is for any companies interested to assume that because EDS has been there, that they would automatically get the contract. This is a genuine process and we want to encourage the market and ensure they know our plans in coming months," said Farr.
"We want this closely aligned with our future business strategy. We need to make sure that ... best practice is being adopted ... and, of course, to keep our costs down. IT is a fairly big ticket item for us," he added.
ATO will go to market with its plans in August 2008.
